William “Wolf” Nelson will always be remembered as the young maestro that conducted the greatest show in the history of Chicago high school basketball when Kevin Garnett, Ronnie Fields and Farragut took the state by storm in 1995.
“It was crazy,” Nelson told the Sun-Times. “We had back-to-back Mr. Basketball’s and national attention. But most of my career I’ve spent coaching the players nobody else wanted.”
Nelson, 62, has officially retired from teaching and coaching after 33 years as Farragut’s basketball coach. He leaves with a record of 541-320. Nelson graduated from Farragut in 1978.
“I don’t want to retire when I’m too old to do anything,” Nelson said. “Years ago a co-worker pointed out that there is no point in working all these years if you are going to retire and then die. That’s always stuck with me.”
The past year has been tumultuous for Nelson. He was carjacked in October and has also dealt with some health issues.
“I was with my son and two guys walked up to me and pointed semi-automatic weapons at my head,” Nelson said. “I looked at them cool and calm. It’s not like I’ve never seen a gun before. They took my wallet and my car and left.”
Nelson taught math at Farragut. He first met Garnett while running an SAT prep course at one of Nike’s national camps.
“I’m a teacher that happens to be a basketball coach,” Nelson said. “When I grew up our coaches were our teachers. That’s not the case anymore. If you are a teacher and coach you are a dinosaur.”
Nelson, who didn’t play high school basketball himself (he was on the chess team), coached 21 All-City players, 11 All-State players and three McDonald’s All-Americans (Fields, Garnett and Michael Dunigan).
“The three top guys I coached were Garnett, Fields and Michael Wright,” Nelson said. “I stop at three.”
Some of the other standouts included Curtis Gaines, Ollie Bailey, Chris Singletary and Elliott Poole.
Reunited in LA. Admirals4Life…… pic.twitter.com/SD8zCXHdKt
— Farragut Career Academy (@FCAIBCHICAGO) July 9, 2022
Farragut’s 1995 team was upset by Thornton in the state quarterfinals. Nelson has always admitted that he was too inexperienced at the time and didn’t properly scout the Wildcats.
The 2004 Admirals, led by Singletary, Bailey and Emmanuel Little, finished 29-4 and lost to Peoria Central and Shaun Livingston 42-40 in the state quarterfinals.
Little is taking over for Nelson. The two have been co-coaching for the last two seasons.
“I named my son after Emmanuel,” Nelson said. “We are that close. He has Emmanuel as his middle name.”
Little played collegiately at North Dakota and was a professional player for 12 years.
“Wolf is like a father to me,” Little said. “The timing worked out well to come back to Farragut because I had been gone most of my son’s life and wanted to come home when he became a teenager.”
Farragut suffered some down seasons recently. The program’s numbers have been low. But Nelson always found diamonds in the rough to keep the team relevant.
“I could make something from nothing,” Nelson said. “I can look at a kid and tell if he’s all-city or all-state. It’s a thing I had.”
Simeon coach Robert Smith, who also recently retired, picked Nelson to coach the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association All-Star game with him this spring.
“[Nelson] is a legend,” Smith said. “The Public League and the whole West Side of Chicago is going to miss him. He went out without a whole lot of talent and coached his guys up.”
Nelson won’t disconnect from Farragut entirely. He plans to be around at basketball games. And according to Little, the school plans to name the gymnasium after Nelson.
Several high-profile coaches have retired or quit since COVID. Nelson believes he knows one reason.
“To say the kids have changed over the years would be a vast understatement,” Nelson said. “And the parents. They all think their kid is going to the NBA.
“The guys I coached that went to the NBA didn’t have as big a head as these kids. They have big heads for no reason. And the parents are worse.”
Nelson isn’t sure what his next move will be. He says Garnett is considering opening a prep school in California.
“He’s trying to get me out there,” Nelson said. “I’m not burned out. I’m good. I’ll take my retirement and decide what’s next.”
William Nelson at Farragut
1991-92: 19-7
1992-93: 16-9
1993-94: 20-9
1994-95: 28-2
1995-96: 25-4
1996-97: 17-12
1997-98: 20-7
1998-99: 13-15
1999-00: 9-17
2000-01: 19-8
2001-02: 22-10
2002-03: 10-13
2003-04: 29-4
2004-05: 14-11
2005-06: 14-11|
2006-07: 19-8
2007-08: 20-7
2008-09: 15-10
2009-10: 13-13
2010-11: 24-5
2011-12: 14-9
2012-13: 12-10
2013-14: 12-13
2014-15: 16-12
2015-16: 20-11
2016-17: 14-10
2017-18: 17-11
2018-19: 20-8
2019-20: 14-9
2020-21: 3-4
2021-22: 5-13
2022-23: 14-16
Total 541-320
